HCJ will submit motions to the President of Ukraine for the appointment of 13 judges to appellate courts and 3 judges to local courts
The High Council of Justice adopted a decision to submit motions to the President of Ukraine for the appointment of judges to appellate and local courts, namely:
- Roman Minhazov — to the position of judge of the Zaporizhzhia Court of Appeal;
- Oksana Parfenenko — to the position of judge of the Chernihiv Court of Appeal;
- Kostiantyn Mashkov — to the position of judge of the Zaporizhzhia Court of Appeal;
- Liliia Saltan — to the position of judge of the Zaporizhzhia Court of Appeal;
- Serhii Hlazko — to the position of judge of the Eighth Administrative Court of Appeal;
- Nataliia Dubchak — to the position of judge of the Zakarpattia Court of Appeal;
- Yuliia Kalmykova — to the position of judge of the Eighth Administrative Court of Appeal;
- Vadym Karun — to the position of judge of the Chernihiv Court of Appeal;
- Mykhailo Kutsenko — to the position of judge of the Chernihiv Court of Appeal;
- Tetiana Kononenko — to the position of judge of the Zaporizhzhia Court of Appeal;
- Pavlo Hutsal — to the position of judge of the Liubar District Court of Zhytomyr Region;
- Kateryna Barabash — to the position of judge of the Kamianets-Podilskyi City and District Court of Khmelnytskyi Region;
- Ruslan Sinielnik and Lidiia Klymenko — to the positions of judges of the Zaporizhzhia Court of Appeal;
- Viktor Serebriakov — to the position of judge of the Chernihiv Court of Appeal;
- Liubov Kodrian — to the position of judge of the Apostolove District Court of Dnipropetrovsk Region.
Three judges dismissed under general grounds
Two judges were dismissed upon retirement:
- Mykhailo Zolotar — from the position of judge of the Irshava District Court of Zakarpattia Region;
- Olha Medunytsia — from the position of judge of the Eastern Commercial Court of Appeal.
Yuliia Baiduzh was also dismissed from the position of judge of the Commercial Court of Poltava Region upon her own request following the submission of the respective application.
Deputy Head of the High Council of Justice Oksana Kvasha and HCJ members Serhii Burlakov and Oleksandr Sasevych took part in the III International Scientific and Practical Conference “Legal Conflicts in the Application of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms: Practical Aspects,” which took place on 27 February 2026 in Lviv.
Oksana Kvasha emphasized that administrative courts play a decisive role in ensuring the rights and freedoms of citizens of Ukraine and in maintaining the balance between public interest and individual rights, as well as between the state and the individual. It is within administrative justice that the principle of the rule of law is implemented in the relevant legal relations.
HCJ member Serhii Burlakov delivered a report on the observance of the principle of the presumption of innocence in disciplinary proceedings concerning judges.
A round table dedicated to the presentation of Opinion No. 28 (2025) of the Consultative Council of European Judges “On the importance of judges’ well-being for the administration of justice” was held at the Supreme Court.
The Opinion outlines approaches to ensuring proper working conditions for judges as an important prerequisite for judicial independence and the quality of justice.
HCJ member Olha Popikova emphasized that judges work under conditions of excessive workload, chronic fatigue, and constant stress, especially in the realities of war.
HCJ member Oleksii Melnyk noted that the responsibility to care for judges’ well-being within the powers of the HCJ is an integral part of its daily work.
HCJ member Tetiana Bondarenko stressed that the issue of judges’ well-being had long remained largely “behind the scenes” and had not been the subject of public discussion.
Two judges temporarily suspended from the administration of justice pursuant to decisions of the Disciplinary Chambers of the HCJ
Judge Yevhenii Ablov of the Kyiv District Administrative Court was temporarily suspended from the administration of justice pursuant to a decision of the Third Disciplinary Chamber of the High Council of Justice.
The decision to hold the judge disciplinarily liable and to apply a disciplinary sanction in the form of a submission for dismissal from office was adopted by the Third Disciplinary Chamber of the High Council of Justice on 4 March 2026.
Judge Yurii Drach of the Koroliovskyi District Court of the City of Zhytomyr was temporarily suspended from the administration of justice pursuant to a decision of the Second Disciplinary Chamber of the High Council of Justice.
The decision to hold the judge disciplinarily liable and to apply a disciplinary sanction in the form of a submission for dismissal from office was adopted by the Second Disciplinary Chamber of the High Council of Justice on 4 March 2026.
The term of the judges’ suspension from the administration of justice remains in effect until the High Council of Justice adopts a decision on their dismissal from office or revokes the decision of the Disciplinary Chamber.
At its meeting on 2 March 2026, the Council of Judges of Ukraine approved the Commentary to the Code of Judicial Ethics.
The Commentary is an official interpretation of the Code, containing references to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, examples of the application of each article, and recommendations regarding judges’ conduct in both procedural and extra-procedural activities.
The working group that prepared the Commentary included members of the High Council of Justice Serhii Burlakov, Dmytro Lukianov, and Oleksandr Sasevych, as well as HCJ member for the period 2021–2025 and judge of the Lutsk City and District Court of Volyn Region Inna Plakhtii.
Their participation ensured that the Commentary takes into account the practice of disciplinary and ethical responsibility of judges and that its provisions are consistent with the approaches of the judicial governance body.
Announcement of a Competition for the Vacant Position of Head of the Judicial Protection Service
Documents from candidates are accepted from 08:00 on 10 March 2026 until 17:00 on 31 March 2026 at the following address: 18/5 Lypska Street, Kyiv, 01601.
The place, date, and start time of the competition: State Judicial Administration of Ukraine (18/5 Lypska Street, Kyiv), 17 April 2026 at 10:00.
Additional information regarding the competition may be obtained from Taisa Volodymyrivna Paramzina, Head of the Personnel Department of the Central Management Body of the Judicial Protection Service, by phone (050) 7440519 or via email taisa.paramzina@sso.gov.ua.
The High Council of Justice (HCJ) decided to address the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and its Committee on Legal Policy with a proposal to consider the issue of ensuring the housing rights of judges, retired judges, and court staff members who, before the temporary occupation, worked in courts located in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and subsequently relocated to territory controlled by Ukraine.
The HCJ proposes initiating amendments to Article 15 of the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Citizens and the Legal Regime in the Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine.” The purpose of these amendments is to grant these individuals the right to free privatization of residential premises in accordance with the procedure defined by this article, as well as to expand the list of objects subject to privatization to include land plots, particularly for the construction and maintenance of residential buildings.
The acceptance of documents will continue until 12 March 2026 inclusive:
- until 24:00 on 12 March 2026 if the documents are submitted electronically (official HCJ email: assistant@hcj.gov.ua), or
- until 17:00 on 12 March 2026 if the documents are submitted in person (12-a Studentska Street, Kyiv).
Templates of the documents required from candidates for the position of HCJ member are available on the official HCJ website in the section “Candidates for the HCJ Membership” (https://hcj.gov.ua/page/kandydaty-do-skladu-vrp).
On 6 March 2026, the High Council of Justice granted consent for the detention in custody of a judge of the Reni District Court of Odesa Region.
The decision was adopted following the consideration of the relevant submission by Deputy Prosecutor General Maksym Yuriiovych Krym.